Damn kids. Whatever happened to smoking a twister and passing around a paper bag of Wild Irish Rose back behind the Circle K after school?
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Overnight Flash Mob Thread
Damn kids. Whatever happened to smoking a twister and passing around a paper bag of Wild Irish Rose back behind the Circle K after school?
Dixie Carter Passes Away at 70
By GottaLaff
Damn. I seem to remember hearing recently that she wasn't doing well:
Readily recognized for her long time tenure on TV's "Designing Women" as Julia Sugarbaker and for her starring roles in seven other TV series, Dixie Carter has passed away at the age of 70 according to Entertainment Tonight. "This has been a terrible blow to our family," her husband Hal Holbrook tells ET. "We would appreciate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy. Thank you."
Sigh.
Romney wins straw poll. "Ron Paul's fans were crushed. 'That's not legit!'"
By GottaLaff
It's time for the results of the big SRLC straw poll! Drum roll....
Can you stand the suspense?
Drum roll continues....
Is this taking too much time? Can you even stand it? Ready? Ready?? It's a squeaker!
Romney took 439 votes (24 percent) to Paul's 438 votes (also 24 percent), a result that disappointed a Paul-heavy crowd that had stuck around to watch the results. Sarah Palin came in third with 330 votes (18 percent), and Newt Gingrich came in fourth with 321 votes (18 percent); Mike Huckabee, who did not attend the event, scored 4 percent. Total ballots cast: 1,806.
Willard Romney by a coiffed hair!
Losey McThirdPlace will have to make do with her two Tee Vee shows, her truckloads of cash, her screeches, er, speeches, her ghost written books, and her ghost written Facebook blog. I mean, come on, she shouldn't be piggy. Nobody can have it all, even with a ClusterFox contract.
To be fair, Willard did have a little help. Evangelicals for Mitt bought about 200 tickets, 800 copies of Willard's book, plus 2,000 piggy banks with the logo "Evangelicals for Mitt" on them.
Paul's fans were crushed. "That's not legit!" one fan yelled when the votes were announced.
Go here for more little tidbits-o'-fun!
VIDEO- Anti-government Idaho candidate: "I'm not an authority on world governments"
By GottaLaff
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Idaho gubernatorial candidate and militia man Dr. Rex Rammell doesn't like our form of government. It has completely taken over, don't you know. But when Chris Matthews asked him where there's a better government than ours...
"I'm not an authority on world governments."
Good answer, Doc. What a keen mind you have. What a well thought out response. Same goes for your answers about the Air Force, Medicare, and Social Security.
Entitlement programs are unconstitutional, and the 16th and 17th amendments should be repealed.
Here's what he really wanted to say: Repeal President Obama.
VIDEO: Bobby Jindal mocks RNC staffers
By GottaLaff
Um, Ba-Ba-Ba-Bobby Jindal? Wrong joke to the wrong crowd at the wrong time in the wrong room. Major rule of comedy: Know your audience.
Way to win over your own side, Sparky:
How do you get a lukewarm reaction from an otherwise friendly crowd? Joke about the politically embarrassing elephant in the room. That is just what Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal did Friday at the SRLC, having a laugh at the expense of the RNC.
Mock and awe fail.
VIDEO: Sarah Palin Wins "Worst Mother in America" Award
By GottaLaff
There is nothing left to add. Leave it to Mrs. Betty Bowers to provide the ("worst") mother of all snark fests:
Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian, bestows Sarah Palin with Bringing Integrity To Christian Homemakers' prestigious "Worst Mother in America" award to honor Sarah's heroic efforts in self-indulgent, absentee parenting.
The underlying concern about same-sex marriage
By GottaLaff
Oh, but I teased you. You must go to Dependable Renegade for the punch line.
Here's a nibble:
"Coroner" Munchkin from 'Wizard of Oz,' Meinhardt Raabe, Dies at 94
By GottaLaff
(via)
Aww, I hate reading this:Flowers have been placed on the Munchkins star on Hollywood Boulevard in honor of Meinhardt Raabe, who died Friday in Florida. The Wisconsinite played the coroner when he was 23 and became one of the last surviving munchkins from "Wizard of Oz," which premiered in 1939.
He was one of the few Munchkins with lines: He was one of the few Munchkins with lines:As coroner, I must aver
I thoroughly examined her.
And she’s not only merely dead,
She’s really most sincerely dead.
And this from the New York Times:
Mr. Raabe, who was also a wartime aviator and the first Little Oscar, the mascot of the Oscar Mayer meat company, died Friday in Orange Park, Fla., at 94. Bob Rigel, president of the Penney Retirement Community in Penney Farms, Fla., where Mr. Raabe had lived since 1986, said that the cause had not been officially determined but that it was presumed to be a heart attack.
Personal Munchkin story: Another Munchkin, Jerry Maren (he's the one in the middle), also played Little Oscar at one point. I worked with him on a Tee Vee pilot, and he was a sweetheart. He appeared to have great view of my... waist... and flirted up a storm. I'm guessing he was attracted to my, er, Levis.
VIDEO: Standing O for the Vitter Pill, who prefers TV personalities to community organizers
By GottaLaff
Yes, that David Vitter.
It seems the "We are Rushpublics and we approve Vitter's message" party is into him. He got a standing ovation at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC).
Oh, and check out Mr. Personality's intro... using notes. I guess teleprompters weren't an option:
Andy Guinn, co-chair of the SRLC, introduced Vitter by saying he “fights everyday for Louisiana and her families.”
It gets better. The Values Party got a real boost when The Pill touted style over substance:
During his address, Vitter said, "I'll take a TV personality over a community organizer any day," an apparent reference to Sarah Palin and Barack Obama.
That's right, MeMe McNasty is preferable to someone who actually, you know, cares about people. Because that's how their party rolls.
Atheist Barbie
By GottaLaff
Paddy linked to this in her daily linky post, but I had to single it out. It deserves its own spot.
Via BoingBoing:
I'm not a believer, but I do wear pants. Well, most of the time. As for eating babies, I much prefer them for dinner. Gay French Muslim ones.
Or maybe they'll come out with a fully naked gay French Muslim Jewish socialist abortion-loving fascist Commie Kenyan community organizing judicial activist Barbie.
The perfect gift for the progressive radical black dictator who has everything.
Junior Florida Republican staffer charged $1.3 million to party credit card
By GottaLaff
My Twitter pals Symbolman (who co-authored Going Rouge, the Coloring and Activity Book) and Hoptoad4 stumbled upon something interesting in the St. Petersburg Times.
All that was missing was a Big GOP outing at the Voyeur club:
She was a 25-year-old junior staffer when the Florida Republican Party gave her an American Express card.
Over the next 2½ years, nearly $1.3 million in charges wound up on Melanie Phister's AmEx — $40,000 at a London hotel, and nearly $20,000 in plane tickets for indicted former House Speaker Ray Sansom, his wife and kids, for starters. Statements show thousands spent on jewelry, sporting goods and in one case $15,000 for what's listed as a month-long stay at a posh Miami Beach hotel, but which the party says was a forfeited deposit.
So much for all that "fiscal restraint" talk, huh? But hey, what's $1.3 mil between friends?
Even after a series of embarrassing revelations over profligate credit card spending by the likes of Republican U.S. Senate frontrunner Marco Rubio, Sansom and incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon — and pending state and federal investigations of party finances — revelations of the huge charges on Phister's card had veteran GOP fundraisers apoplectic.
Apparently, legislators abused Phister's card, too, as well as their own. Weeee! It's a spending party for the party who says they hate spending!
Did I mention that political donors are livid?
"I can't believe it. Someone should be hanged for that," Mark Guzzetta, a Boca Raton developer who has raised millions of dollars for Republicans, said of the party allowing so much spending on a low-level staffer's card.
I bet Democrats are just as guilty though, right? No, more guilty. Guiltier than guilty. Isn't that what the Rushpublics always say?
And we all know the last thing any member of the GOP would ever suggest is emulating the Dems. That's Number One on their List-O'-Sins:
The Florida Democratic Party requires staffers and leaders to use their own credit cards and seek reimbursement for appropriate expenses. That's now the practice at the Florida Republican Party, and fundraiser Hoffman suggested it's about time.
Finally. Bipartisanship.
H/t: TexBetsy
Law enforcement officer: "Buy as many guns as you can afford"; Judge: Carry a gun
By GottaLaff
You may be acquainted with 42bkdodgr, my "72-year-old friend" who contributes Special Comments to TPC from time to time.
He sent me this message yesterday, and I had to share:
Yesterday at a Mens Club luncheon I attended as a guest, there was a law enforcement officer running for top law enforcement position in Vegas.
He told the group that he favored no gun registration requirement and that people should buy as many guns and ammo as they could afford, because the way the country was going, they made need them.
I was shocked and scared from what was said. This coming from a law enforcement official.
I'm scared, too, 42bkdodgr, although I am becoming less shocked, which is a commentary on the recent state of affairs in and of itself.
But I'm not just alarmed by that one story. That was bad enough. No, it gets worse. Today, when I opened my L.A. Times, I found this:
One judge's solution for citizens feeling less secure because of budget cuts in an Ohio county: Carry a gun.
He explained that anyone with a gun should be "law abiding".
Yes, I'm sure all those angry, extremist militia types and/or Tea Baggers, and/or anyone with a grudge against the government who is being egged on by the likes of Sarah Palin to "reload" will remember to be "law abiding".
Emotion has nothing to do with it.
Rage is so easily controlled, isn't it? Especially these days. Why, sure as shootin', these people are as trustworthy and reasonable and safety conscious as they can be with their lethal weapons.
Mackey [...] was expressing concerns with budget cuts that have trimmed the sheriff's department from 112 to 49 deputies in the county, which is Ohio's largest by land area.
Asked by WKYC how people should respond to the cuts and limited patrols, he said, "Arm themselves. Be very careful and just be vigilant because we're going to have to look after each other."
Feel safer now? That awesome posse mentality is so in vogue these days. I must remember to purchase Nordstrom's finest hottt studded leather holster to match the gleam of ready-aim-fire in my eyes.
Even if the judge did not intend to encourage vigilantism, IMHO he was being irresponsible. Guns are not the answer to budget cuts. His honor might have thought about the possible consequences of his words before he opened his influential judicial mouth.
Video- Fox's Rosen points out that conservatives are calling for judicial activism to stop health care reform
Iowa native who invented trampoline dies at 96
Without this guy what would have midwestern subdivision dwellers put in their backyards?
Cedar Rapids, Ia. - Former Cedar Rapids gymnast and businessman George Nissen, who built the world's first modern trampoline, has died. He was 96.
International Gymnastics Magazine reported that Nissen died Wednesday in San Diego from complications of pneumonia.
The Blairstown native came up with the trampoline idea while training as a gymnast at the University of Iowa, basing it on the safety nets used by circus performers. He and his coach, Larry Griswold, built their prototype in Nissen's mother's garage.
After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1937, Nissen joined with two classmates to form an acrobatic troupe called the Three Leonardos, according to a Wall Street Journal article. They performed at fairs and carnivals across North America. It was while touring Mexico City that Nissen said he was inspired to name his invention "trampoline," after a Spanish word for diving board.
Satruday Links
Some actual serious news this morning.
Officials say Polish president, dignitaries among 96 victims of Russian plane crash
Hopes dashed: Searchers find bodies of 4 missing in W.Va. mine; death toll 29, worst in years
Cruise ship passengers told: Keep your lights off to avoid attracting pirates
From crack baby to West Pointer
Male deer don't lie about their prowess
USC scientists figure out how to turn t-shirts into body armor
Exercise a 'magic pill' for depressed
Raabe, 'Wizard of Oz' Munchkin actor, dies at 94
Atheist Barbie
Video- Obamas share private moment in public eye
Too fracking cute.
Washington (CNN) - On the driveway right outside the White House briefing room, a place where President Barack Obama rarely strolls during public hours, CNN caught a rare and personal exchange between the first couple.
Flanked by Secret Service agents and personal aide Reggie Love, Obama spotted his wife near the West Wing entrance and tried to get her attention. "Hey FLOTUS," he shouted, then added, "I was just looking for you." FLOTUS is the acronym for first lady of the United States.
As CNN photojournalist Bill Alberter videotaped the encounter, the president joked, "Stop it guys, I haven't seen my wife in a while."
The first lady, who seemed poised to deliver an affectionate greeting, was thwarted when the president said, "Let's not do this in front of the cameras."
Instead they held hands and walked together into the West Wing like a married couple that had not seen each other since one of them made a quick jaunt to Prague to sign a new nuclear arms treaty.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Networks dump Palin for Obama, plus Bonus Rightie Talking Points!
By GottaLaff
Time posted the following one-liner:
All three nets dump SRLC feed for Rose Garden remarks.
Yappy McEarSplit got three thumbs down from the Tee Vee Machine giants. How's that gratey-flakey thing goin' for ya?
And Greg Sargent saved us from linking to Drudge (which wouldn't have happened anyway) by providing a screen shot of "the state of the American right":
(click on image to enlarge)1. Yappy is on that l'il list-o'-sleazebaggy quotes.
2. Yappy got crushed by the Tee Vee Networks.
Conclusion: Spreading nasty lies may not be the best way to go. Learning from mistakes can be fun.
2. Yappy got crushed by the Tee Vee Networks.
Conclusion: Spreading nasty lies may not be the best way to go. Learning from mistakes can be fun.
CT GOP Sen. candidate Linda McMahon warned steroid doctor of investigation
By GottaLaff
This won't exactly be a 2010 vote-getter:
In December 1989, as federal investigators were zeroing in on a Pennsylvania doctor who would soon be convicted of selling steroids to professional wrestlers, Linda McMahon sent a confidential memo to a fellow executive at Titan Sports, the family company that operated what was then known as the World Wrestling Federation.The WWF, she wrote, should alert Dr. George T. Zahorian III that a criminal investigation could be heading his way, according to court documents reviewed by The Day.
"Although you and I discussed before about continuing to have Zahorian at our events as the doctor on call, I think that is now not a good idea," McMahon wrote in the memo. "Vince agreed, and would like for you to call Zahorian and to tell him not to come to any more of our events and to also clue him in on any action that the Justice Department is thinking of taking."
How above board and transparent of her. Who could ask for a better candidate than one who meddles in legal affairs that include steroidy drugs?
I'm sure she has a perfectly good explanation, though:
In an interview last week, McMahon said she could not explain the reason she directed Pat Patterson, a former wrestler, WWE executive and consultant, to alert Zahorian to the fact that he was under investigation.
See?
Connecticut can do better. Sneaky memos about secret drug dealings just won't cut it in a candidate. Then again, escapades like this are par for the GOP these days.
There is a whole lot more. Toddle on over and take a look-see.
H/t: TPM
Rachel Maddow to be on The Daily Show April 13th
By GottaLaff
Keith Olbermann's P.R. person tweeted some great news:
Why, yes, they indicate that very thing! Thank you, Alana!
Unbeatable combo! The brainiac-itude will be through the roof.
Set your DVRs!
NononononoPalinJindalNonononono
By GottaLaff
Newton Leroy Gingrich decided that the GOP should be the "party of yes." What a novel idea! Why, it's positively Spoonful of Sugary! One might surmise that Republican voters would lap that right up, it's so sunshiny and positive!
One might even go so far as to imagine party leaders would embrace such a pleasant about-face from all that nastiness and No-itude.
Think about it. Those poor Rushpublics! It must be an awful burden, all that dragging around, looking all frowny, staining their vocal chords screaming "You lie!", "Baby killer!", "Reload!", and "Hell no!" at the top of their lungs.
"Yes" is such a happy word. "Yes" brings to mind all good things. "Yes" is as feel-goody as it gets. Who could refuse an opportunity to associate with such a life-affirming word? A word filled with promise and opportunity? A word that would be good for America!?
Ba-Ba-Ba-Bobby Jindal:
“Let’s be clear: A bad idea is a bad idea, and shame on us for being afraid to say so,” Jindal said. He added that, when it comes to bad ideas, “We shouldn’t just be the 'party of no,' we should be the 'party of "hell no." ' ”
NaySay McThumbsDown:
“There is no shame in being the 'party of no' if the other side proposes something that violates our Constitution and conscience,” she said.
Authorities report rise in threats against members of Congress
By GottaLaff
The Cleaver "spitting incident"Disturbing, to say the least:
Federal law enforcement and Congressional authorities are reporting a large increase in threats against lawmakers, a law enforcement official tells CNN. The officials said the spike in threats began around the debate over health care reform.Since October, 50 threats against members of Congress have been reported to the FBI, said the official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. In the previous year, less than 20 were reported to federal law enforcement authorities. When threats are received by lawmakers, the U.S. Capitol Police and in some cases, the FBI, investigate.
Members of the House and Senate reported nearly three times as many threats in the first three months of this year, compared to the last three months of 2009, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer told The Washington Post.
When you have someone like Barbie McCrossHairs inciting a frenzied crowd, using rifle sites on maps, bellowing buzz words like "reload", this is bound to happen.
When you have Tea Tantrumers packing heat, flailing about with hostile, hate-filled signage, and shouting slurs/spitting on Congress members, this is bound to happen.
When you have an entire network, ClusterFox, filled with hate-spewing hosts who preach lies, hostility, and encourage violence, this is bound to happen.
Here's an idea: The GOP should get in front of the cameras every single day in a sincere attempt to talk these loons down, demand that they cease and desist, demand that they halt the threats and terrorism, and then :: gasp!:: set an example by you know, doing.
Then maybe... maybe... we might see a glimmer of safe.
Bobby Jindal: I won't run for president
By GottaLaff
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Shorter Ba-Ba-Ba-Bobby Jindal: There is no way in hell I can win.
Why? There are any number of reasons, the least of which is how he's destroying access to mental health care in his own state.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told a hometown crowd Friday that he will not make a bid for the White House."I am not running for president of the United States,"Jindal said at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. "I've got the job I want."
And the job he wants is privatizing health care and destroying lives in the process.
Rachel's initial reaction to Ba-ba-Bobby back in 2009 still works today:
Dawn Johnsen withdraws from consideration for Justice post
By GottaLaff
President Obama's nominee to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has withdrawn her bid for confirmation after she languished for more than a year without a Senate vote.Several Republicans objected to Dawn E. Johnsen over her criticism of the Bush administration's terrorist interrogation policies.
My previous posts about the relentless efforts to block "the woman who could nail Bush" can be found here.
And that is why she was blocked, because she could shine light on the atrocities that defined BushCo. And now she has finally withdrawn.
They won. The United States lost. Hugely.
Merry Blockmas. Again.
Video- Mrs. Obama visits the Pentagon to thank military and civilian employees for their service to the nation 4/9/10
American Jews back Obama on Israel
Do you approve or disapprove of the Obama administration's handling of U.S.-Israel relations?
Via Ben.
Audio- Beck says Obama will find a "gay, handicapped, black woman, who's an immigrant" who's a "radical" justice like Sotomayor
Total rodeo clown mode.
Obama will name a Supreme Court replacement with a "similar mind"
By GottaLaff
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
President Obama's lawyers were ready for Judge Stevens' retirement, including a short list of possible replacements:
A decision on who will replace Stevens will be made "in the coming weeks."
Top candidates: Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Judge Diane Wood and Judge Merrick Garland.
"The crucial calculation that Obama will have to make is what kind of political capital he wants to spend on potentially contentious nomination hearings. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have signaled that a candidate with a paper trail on divisive social issues could create a firestorm."
But here's the most intriguing part:
Speaking at the White House, Obama praised Stevens for his "independent mind, record of excellence and integrity, [and] fierce dedication to the rule of law." He pledged to move "quickly" to name a replacement with "a similar mind."
Let's hope by "similar", he means not only intellect, civility, ability to draw support/interact with the other justices, but also so-called "liberal" leanings.
Jonathan Turley:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Chart: Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer
By GottaLaff
Via The Nation:
It's always easier to grasp the overwhelming with a visual:
The gap between the top 1% and everyone else hasn't been this bad since the Roaring Twenties
Taegan:
Business Insider: "The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Cliché, sure, but it's also more true than at any time since the Gilded Age."
And by creating that kind of gap, the wealthy can create the America that suits them. Equality goes out the window, the ability to buy candidates is exponentially facilitated, and democracy as we know it, or rather knew it, ceases to exist.
VIDEO: Jon Stewart nukes Fox
By GottaLaff
Jon Stewart, thank you for never disappointing. Ever:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The Big Bang Treaty | ||||
| ||||
E. Vis. Ceration.
Let's start a countdown to the next GOP "Daisy ad"... attacking Stewart.
How to Cut Iran’s Petrodollars By Over $100 Million A Day
By GottaLaff
Think Progress did an analysis of how a strong carbon cap would would "significantly cut the flow of petrodollars to Iran’s hostile regime".
By changing the way we do things here, vis a vis our consumption of oil, we can control the flow of money, petrodollars, to Iran. And the best bonus of all? We'd be slowing the negative effects of climate change by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
Think Progress has more, but meanwhile, here is a visual aid:
Gov Pawlenty (R-MN) hasn't responded to census
Yeah, the great fiscal conservative is making it so the Federal government now has to pay to send someone out to count him. Hope someone notes this for the next time he bitches about spending. Asshat.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he hasn't filled out his census form, which was due more than a week ago.
Pawlenty made the comment on his weekly radio show on WCCO Radio on Friday.
(center)
Pawlenty says, "I'm going to fill it out in a timely manner."
April 1 was the deadline for completing and mailing census forms. Census workers are set to visit homes that don't respond. Federal law requires people to participate in the census.
Breaking- Justice Stevens will retire this year
Just announced on MSNBC, more as I get it. Man, I better get some blood pressure meds for these hearings 'cause you know it's going to get crazy. UPDATED-
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the court’s oldest member and leader of its liberal bloc, says he is retiring. President Barack Obama now has his second high court opening to fill.
Stevens says he will step down when the court finishes its work for the summer in late June or early July.
His announcement Friday in Washington had been hinted at for months. It comes 11 days before his 90th birthday.
(snip)
The timing of his announcement leaves ample time for the White House to settle on a successor and Senate Democrats, who control 59 votes, to conduct confirmation hearings and a vote. Republicans have not ruled out an attempt to delay confirmation.
The leading candidates to replace Stevens are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, 49, and federal appellate Judges Merrick Garland, 57, and Diane Wood, 59.
Stevens’ departure will not change the court’s conservative-liberal split because Obama is certain to name a liberal-leaning replacement. But the new justice is not likely to be able to match Stevens’ ability to marshal narrow majorities in big cases.
Video- Fox whines that Obama was "not presidential" in taking "a shot" at Palin over her nuclear policy experience
They really can't be this stupid can they?
Westboro Church "Protesters" Heading To West Virginia Mine Disaster
Far be it for me to advocate violence, but somehow I think the Westboro idjits might have a few problems if they follow up on this...
MONTCOAL W.V. — Protesters from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., headed to the Upper Big Branch mine Thursday morning to convey the message that the explosion there that left 25 miners dead was a result of e-mail messages allegedly sent from West Virginia threatening the Church and its publisher, according to a statement from the Church.
The church, which is led by Fred Phelps, has attracted attention in recent years by showing up at funerals for soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. At those funerals they carry signs that say that God hates homosexuality and that the death of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan is God’s way of punishing the United States for its tolerance of it.
(snip)
The statement said the church had received threats about a trip to West Virginia and Virginia scheduled to begin Thursday.
“So God reached down and smacked one of those mines, killing 25 (and likely four more are dead),” it said. “Now you moan and wallow in self-pity, and pour over the details of the dead rebels’ lives, pretending they’re heroes.”
Friday Links
Nothing here, not even coffee.
New human species claim fuels ancestry debate
Men With Meat Names
Japanese people have special seaweed-digesting bacteria in their guts
Hartford Courant: Gadsden Flag Will Not Be Flown Over State Capitol Tea Party activists won't be permitted to fly the Gadsden Flag over the state Capitol after all. State Capitol police today reversed an earlier decision to allow the bright yellow "Don't Tread On Me" banner to flutter from the highly visible flagpole after learning that activists had planned a political rally following the flag-raising ceremony. But Tea Party activists said today they plan to go ahead with the flag-raising – they plan to bring their own flagpole.Tea Party activists view the flag as a historic symbol of American defiance, but critics say the familiar flag with the image of a coiled rattlesnake is now associated with the controversial political movement.
Facebook and Electoral Commission launch voter push
Gingrich: Obama is 'most radical president ever'
Crop Circles, Part Deux: Alien Glyphs, Human Myths, Blogging Bliss
CNNMoney: 33 states out of money to fund jobless benefits With unemployment still at a severe high, a majority of states have drained their jobless benefit funds, forcing them to borrow billions from the federal government to help out-of-work Americans. A total of 33 states and the Virgin Islands have depleted their funds and borrowed more than $38.7 billion to provide a safety net, according to a report released Thursday by the National Employment Law Project. Four others are at the brink of insolvency.
Bart Stupak will retire
Ugh, at this point it's a good riddance. Via Taegan-
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) will announce his re-election plans today at a news conference, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Marc Ambinder says top Democrats briefed last night we're told he'll retire.
"Stupak, the leader of a pro-life faction within his party, had received death threats and was under intense political pressure after he agreed to support the Democratic health care reform legislation, even though pro-life groups insisted that it would allow federal funds to be used for abortion."
Video- President Obama on Nukes, Palin, Confederacy and Iran
Acting as if Palin's opinion had any weight to it is beneath Stephanopoulos.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
George W. Bush 'knew Guantánamo prisoners were innocent'
By GottaLaff
Tell me if you've heard this one before. Oh wait, you have, because it's exactly what I've been writing about for months regarding Lt. Col. Barry Wingard's client Fayiz al-Kandari.
The difference is, now Colin Powell's former aide Larry Wilkerson is saying it, right out loud:
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror, according to a new document obtained by The Times.
The accusations were made by Lawrence Wilkerson, a top aide to Colin Powell, the former Republican Secretary of State, in a signed declaration to support a lawsuit filed by a Guantánamo detainee. It is the first time that such allegations have been made by a senior member of the Bush Administration.
Of course, the Obama administration would rather not look back, only forward. I have a feeling that may change one day soon, the way evidence has been mounting against BushCo. If they ignore this information, then we have a real problem.
[T]he majority of detainees — children as young as 12 and men as old as 93, he said — never saw a US soldier when they were captured. He said that many were turned over by Afghans and Pakistanis for up to $5,000. Little or no evidence was produced as to why they had been taken.
Bingo.
Cheney, Rumsfeld, and even Bush himself were in on it, per Wilkerson. Re: Cheney...
“He had absolutely no concern that the vast majority of Guantánamo detainees were innocent ... If hundreds of innocent individuals had to suffer in order to detain a handful of hardcore terrorists, so be it.”He alleged that for Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld “innocent people languishing in Guantánamo for years was justified by the broader War on Terror and the small number of terrorists who were responsible for the September 11 attacks”.
Just. Go. Read.
****
All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.
Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is a military attorney who represents Fayiz Al-Kandari in the Military Commission process and in no way represents the opinions of his home state. When not on active duty, Colonel Wingard is a public defender in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.
If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.
Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.
More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.H/t: Tosfm
Sarah Palin Bombs At Wine Wholesalers Expo
By GottaLaff
We anticipated Winey McJokeBomb's Big Keynote Speech here. We confirmed it here. But we heard nary a first-hand, eyewitness peep about it... until now:
Here comes Palin!Big hair, white jacket. And now a salute to the "beautiful people working so hard in Nevada."
Heck yeah, I want to speak at this convention! Three bad wine puns in a row: "Going rosé", "stand on a wine box (instead of a soap box)", "in good spirits".
Apparently Todd is in a snow race this weekend. Wow, this woman could have been president. Shudder.
[Editor: What is the crowd's reaction?]
TOTAL SILENCE
For this she gets paid the big bucks.
There is more fun to be had here. Heck yeah!
H/t: Ellen
Poll-itics- Fox Poll: IRS more popular than Dems, GOP, Tea Party... but not Obama
By GottaLaff
Fox conducted a poll. Here are three little excerpts, but please go here for much, much more.
This little piggy is a little cringeworthy for everyone:
This little piggy is a little cringeworthy for Barbie McLipSchmutz:
And this little piggy cried "We're weeee-weeee-weeee'd up!" all the way to the ballot box:
Click on images to enlarge.
The End.
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